


the wrong in my eyes (can't be seen in yours)

by imaginandi



Category: Druck | SKAM (Germany)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Slow Burn, david is a violinist, featuring too many commas, matteo is a pianist, the kind where you see in black and white until you meet your soulmate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 14:37:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20098810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginandi/pseuds/imaginandi
Summary: Matteo was five years old when he realized something was wrong with his eyes."In some really, really rare cases, a person only sees in black and white until they get to know their soulmate. It is most of the time, not an immediate change, they need to know, maybe even befriend their soulmate before starting to see colors. But apparently, when it happens, it’s worth it. Some call this bond “the cursed soulmates” because you can meet them without realizing that it is them, which do not really happen with other types of bond.”“So maybe one day I will meet someone and we will understand each other and I will see colors?” His voice sounded hopeful.“It’s a possibility.”Matteo kind of liked this idea. At least if it was it, he would see a real sunrise one day.OrThe soulmate AU inspired by the @ home picture in David's insta feed





	the wrong in my eyes (can't be seen in yours)

Matteo was five years old when he realized something was wrong with his eyes. 

He started to notice when his teacher showed different shapes on the board and asked them to say the colors. At first, he didn’t get it. Then all his classmates diligently said “red” when she pointed out the square. Even Jonas. He had met Jonas two weeks ago during the first day of school. The boy had said that he found Matteo’s shoes cool. Just after that, they had sat next to each other and Matteo shared the cake his papa made for his lunch with Jonas. They’re best friends. 

And then the teacher asked which color was the circle. 

This time Matteo was ready, it was like the square but slightly lighter: red. When the whole class said “blue” he was taken aback. He looked around, no one had heard his answer. Not that it mattered, the other day TJ had mixed up 3 and 8 and the teacher had assured that it is okay to make mistakes. So, he simply remembered that lighter than red was blue. And the one that was so similar to blue that Matteo needed to squint his eyes to see the difference was green. He didn’t understand why everyone knew the answers but him. After a lot of reflection, he realized everybody had probably learned about colors at home. Like when his papa had taught him the alphabet both in the normal language and in Italian (Italian was the secret language he spoke with his parents and grandparents). His mama and papa hadn’t taught him about colors, they showed him music and that, Matteo decided, was way cooler than shapes on a whiteboard. 

But because he wanted to understand colors, he would ask his parents about it tonight. 

For now, he learned that the light one was yellow. 

It reminded Matteo of the sun when his mom and he were watching it disappear from the balcony. Matteo liked those moments with his mama. It was just after music time, she held him in her arms, sometimes his papa was there. And his mama always smiled. They spoke in their secret language while watching Yellow disappear. 

Matteo didn’t talk for the rest of the class and by the time for lunch, his eyes were hurting because of all the squinting he did. At some point, Mrs. Plenske started showing drawing with different colors and even though he could tell they were different he wasn’t able to remember any of what he learned early on. He was sure that red was darker than green but on the drawing, the car was lighter than the tree and he got confused. 

“You don’t know colors?” Jonas asked, shoving his sandwich in his mouth afterward. 

“No, my parents never told me about it,” he simply replied. 

And Jonas nodded. 

***  
His mama was waiting for him after school. He never knew which parent was coming to pick him up. He was glad it was his mother today. Not because he loved his papa less but because Mama was always more patient and explained better. He really needed to know about colors. 

“Cucciolo!” she called and Matteo ran in her arms. She smelled good, something floral that made him think of that time of the year where flowers reborn. “Com’è stata la tua giornata?” 

“Bene. But we learned about colors and I didn’t understand. You and papa never taught me.” 

“We never did?” she frowned, starting the way home. 

“No, everyone already knew and I didn’t. But it’s okay because I know music and Italian which is really cool, and Mrs. Plenske always says that school is to learn new things,” Matteo explained.

“Mrs. Plenske is right. I can help you with colors if you want.” 

“Grazie Mama, because it’s really hard. Sometimes green is lighter than red but when it’s with trees green is darker. And blue, green and pink are pretty alike.”

His mama abruptly stopped in her track. And because she was holding one of his hand, he stopped as well. 

“Mama?” 

“What is the color of the sky, cucciolo?” 

Matteo knew the answer to that and proudly answered “Blue.” 

His mama took a deep breath and started walking again, “Bene, and now what is the color of your shirt?” 

Matteo looked down, concentrated and replied “White.” 

“Close enough, really light green,” she explained while opening the door of their house. 

“But what is the difference?” he wondered. 

“You don’t see the difference?” 

Matteo shook his head. She took him in her arms again and closed the door behind them. “See? My T-shirt is white. Do you see it now?”

Matteo watched where the two fabrics touched and he could see the difference. 

“Yes.” 

“Good, you’re making progress. You’ll be king of colors in no time.”

And then she asked him what was the color of the cushions on the sofa and they weren’t pink. They were green. The packaging of his favorite cake wasn’t red but blue. Apparently, the walls of his room were also blue, a bit like the sky but not like the cake and darker than his shirt. Matteo was lost because the cushions looked way more like the sky than the cake’s packaging did. Yet, somehow, they were both blue. 

He was no king. 

“And what colors are the key of the piano.”

Matteo knew the answer to that. “Black and white.”

“Great! You get it. Now, let’s not worry about colors or school.” She sat down at the piano, looked at him and gesture him to come. Matteo was more than happy to oblige; he was never wrong with the piano. 

***

Turned out music is a great way to ignore problems only for a short time. The next day, the teacher asked the class to draw a tree. Matteo was good in school, he remembered that trees were green so he carefully picked out his green pencil from his pencil case. 

“Matteo?” said Jonas. 

“Yeah?”

“Why is your tree blue?” he asked. 

No. No, this wasn’t blue he was sure of it, this was nothing like the sky or his room or the cake or his t-shirt and why so many blues? Matteo looked at his drawing, analyzed the nuances of the color, then he did the same with Jonas’s one. No difference. Or maybe there was, he didn’t know anymore. 

“You know,” said Jonas after a bit, seeing that Matteo wouldn’t answer, “my dad and my grandad can’t see red well. My mom says it’s because their eyes are a little sick but it’s nothing to worry about. Maybe it’s the same for you but with green. Or blue.” 

Matteo smiled. He would ask his mama about the disease that made him confused colors. 

After class, his mama was there. “Mama!” he screamed giddily while running to her. 

“Cucciolo, com’è stata la tua giornata?” 

This time he didn’t bother to answer. “I can’t see colors. Jonas says his dad and his grandad have sick eyes and that they can’t see red. He thinks it’s the same for me but with blue.”

“Maybe Jonas is right,” slowly stated his mama as if the words were hurting. “Let’s talk about it at home, it’s an important matter.” 

Once they arrived home, she sat him on the couch and went to search for something in his parent’s bedroom. She came back with a metal box. He knew this box it was the one full of old photos. He was usually happy to see what his nonna looked like when she was young, however, he didn’t understand what it had to do with his eyes. She looked sure of what she was doing so he just waited for her to speak. She took a simple photo from the box and hold it in front of them at arm's length.  
“Is there a difference between the colors on the photo, and the colors you can see on TV?” his mama asked carefully. 

Matteo knew the answer should be yes. 

“No,” he whispered, head down. 

“Okay. It is okay cucciolo.” She hugged him tightly and he smiled against the fabric of her white dress (but maybe it wasn’t white). “So, Jonas told you about an illness that could explain it. There’s a possibility that it’s what happens with your eyes.” 

“Can we heal it?” Matteo wondered, hopeful. 

Maybe it was okay, but everything was so confusing. Colors seemed to be a wonderful thing. School would be easier as well and Matteo didn’t want to bother with colors when he would soon learn how to read. He just wished he could be normal. Jonas wouldn’t have to show him the right pencil if he was normal.

“I’m sorry, Cucciolo, we can’t.” At the sight of his sad face, she gave him another hug. “It’s called colorblindness. Three principal colors mix to create all the other colors. It’s blue, green and red. Colorblind people can’t see one or more of these colors. But if only one color of the principal colors misses to the mix a lot of secondary colors can be impossible to see. To this day there is no treatment. But plenty of people are colorblind and their lives are just fine. It is no big deal,” she explained with a soothing voice. 

“Really?” 

“Really,” she assured before placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. “Go grab your pencil case, we are going to find solutions.” 

When Matteo came back his mama had put scissors and paper on the dinner table, she also had a pen in hand. He smiled. Even if music was his favorite thing, he loved crafting. 

“We’re going to label your pencils.” She sat and started cutting little pieces of paper. “Even if you can’t read yet, the name of each color will be written on the pencils and I will teach you how to recognize them.” 

“Cool,” agreed Matteo while sitting next to his mother. 

“Tomorrow I will call a doctor so we can have a paper proving that you’re colorblind after that it shouldn’t be a problem at school anymore, seems good?”

“Yeah,” Matteo smiled. 

And they put stickers on his pencils. Matteo thought it looked nice. For a while he tried, with the help from his mama, to remember which shape of word corresponded to which color. That was hard, but it was a solution. He will soon learn to read and it won’t be a problem anymore. For now, his mother asked him if he wanted to take a break and play some piano.  
Matteo was playing the first note of “Alle meine Entchen” before his mama got up of her chair. 

After playing for a bit it was time for the sunset. On the balcony, Matteo was avidly watching the Sun disappear. Even without colors, it was a beautiful sight. 

“You know, Matteo, there might be another reason why you don’t see colors,” his Mama whispered like she was not sure about how to pronounce the words. 

“Is it… bad?”

“Oh no,” she smiled, “actually, it’s full of love.” 

The child took his eyes off the clouds and looked at his mother, curiosity clear on his face. 

“You’ve heard of soulmates, right?”

“Yes, we talked about it a little. But I don’t remember much.”

“So, soulmates are kind of like best friends forever,” his mama tried to explain. 

“Jonas is my soulmate?” Matteo asked. 

“No!” laughed his mother. “Well maybe, but that’s not what I was trying to say. About eighty percent of the population has a soulmate. A soulmate is like- having a soulmate is wonderful Matteo. It means there is a person out there who is perfect for you, who will always be there for you and will understand you no matter what happens.”

Matteo was pretty sure his mama had sparkles in her eyes at this point. 

“Once you find your soulmate, most people can’t see their life without them because life is always a little brighter with them by your side.” 

“But how do we know where we meet them?” 

“There are so many ways. Some people have matching tattoos, some have the first words they will say to each other tattooed on the wrist, some can see what the other is writing on their skin on their own skin and can communicate that way. Others, but it’s rarer, have a little string attached to their pinkies and only the soulmates can see the thread, it usually appears in their early twenties. Honestly, there are so many possibilities, I don’t think I know them all.” 

“And what about you and papa?” Matteo inquired. 

“Look.” 

She showed him her wrist where he could see two letters GF. 

“Those are the initials of your father, Gabriele Florenzi, and he has mine. When we met for the first time, I don’t know how to explain it, it was like the letters started heating up, but it was a good warm. That’s how we knew.”

Matteo nodded his little head, taking the information in. 

“And in some really, really rare cases, a person only sees in black and white until they get to know their soulmate. It is most of the time, not an immediate change, they need to know, maybe even befriend their soulmate before starting to see colors. But apparently, when it happens, it’s worth it. Some call this bond “the cursed soulmates” because you can meet them without realizing that it is them, which do not really happen with other types of bond.” 

“So maybe one day I will meet someone and we will understand each other and I will see colors?” His voice sounded hopeful. 

“It’s a possibility.”

Matteo kind of liked this idea. At least if it was it, he would see a real sunrise one day. 

***

Two weeks later Matteo found himself sitting in front of a doctor who was writing a letter to let the school know that he was colorblind. He was moving his feet in the air, drawing an invisible pattern above the floor that he was too little to touch while listening to the adults.

“Mrs. Florenzi, your son’s case is a serious one, there’s a great probability that he sees no colors at all. But you should not worry, there are many ways to make his life easier.”

“Could it be because of a soulmate bond?” his mama asked tentatively. 

“It could, objectively there is no way to tell. But as a doctor I have to treat the most probable hypothesis first,” he slowly explained with a discreet conceited smile. “Statistically having this kind of bond is as likely as getting hit by lightning, whereas eight percent of the male population is colorblind. The soulmate possibility can’t be discarded, but the colorblind one is way more logical. I am sorry, Mrs. Florenzi, but Matteo will probably never see colors, no soulmate will change that. There are plenty of things you can do to help him, such as going shopping with him, even when he’ll get older, to indicate him the color of the clothes, writing the colors of said clothes on the label so he can dress up by himself, etcetera. Not being able to see colors is hard especially as a child because of school I’m sure your kid will do great.”

From then on, Matteo was colorblind.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey
> 
> I hope you enjoyed your reading  
English is not my first language so I apologize for all the mistakes and weird sentences (most mistakes are ponctuation related) you will find in this story. But I actually really enjoy writing this and it's only by practicing that my English will get better. And when I watched druck I knew I needed to write about these two. So I hope I did them justice. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! <3


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